Sealing tool



Aug. 19, 1958 Original Filed July 1. 1953 W. M. BROOKS SEALING TOOL 2Sheets-Sheet 1 IN VE N TORI. l l/m mw M 5900/0 Aug. 19, 1958 w. M.BROOKS SEALING Tom 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Original Filed July 1. 1953ZNVENTOR.

ass-tats ii' rttented Aug. 19, 195% 2,847,675 SEALINGWTOOL Winfred M.Brooks, West Orange, N. J., assignor to E. J. BrooksCoinpany, Newark,-N. *J., a corporation of NewJers'ey Original application July 1, 1953,Serial No. 365,488,

new Patent No. 2,796,278, 'dated turr ts, 1957. [Divided and thisapplication April 10, 1957, Seritil'Nb. 651,997

5 Claims. (Cl. 1-215) This invention relates to a sealin tool,-tnoreparticularly, a tool which is employed to close a-seal 'of she'etmaterial about or upon ashac'kle'or othermembe'r "to prevent opening orrelease of such a shackle or other member without leavingevidencethereof.

This=applicationis a division of my copending application, Serial No.365,488, which was filed luly "1, 1953, now Patent No. 2,796,278, issuedJune 18, 1957.

The iprincipal object of this invention is the provision of such ase'alingtool whichis relatively simple, easy to operate, and which givestoasealclosed'thereby'a novel character which renders the seal animprovement over previously known seals.

In the accompanying drawings:

Figure l is a perspective viewof a 's'eal as-furnished by a sealman'u-facturer to a user, -"s'aid-seal being'ior-medof sheet material(preferably sheet metal) and ofach'arac'ter enabling it to be closed by"a sealingtool according to this invention.

Fig.2 is a "side elevation'al-view'of animproved sealing toolaccordin'g-to arpreferredoneof a'nu'mber of possible embodiments -ofthis invention, certain portions being broken away moreclearly to sh'owunderlyingparts.

Fig. 3 isa front elevational View of thetool show-nin Fig.2 asviewedfrom the left sideof the latter figure.

the sheet-metal "seal at an intermediate stage :of closing thereof uponashackle.

Fig. 6 is a view similar to Figs.'4 and5,sho'wing, however, thecompletion of the closing of the seal upon the shackle.

Fig. 7 is a horizontal sectional view of the sealing tool substantiallyon the line 7-7 of Fig. 2, the seal and the shackle, however, beingomitted.

Fig. 8 is a horizontal sectional view substantially on the line 8-8 ofFig. 6.

Fig. 9 is a vertical sectional view, substantially on the line 9--9 ofFig. 6.

r Fig. 10 is a perspective view of the seal, fully closed upon theshackle.

The seal identified as 34, and shown in Fig. l in the form in which theseal manufacturer supplies it to the user, consists of a main portion 31and wing portion 32. The wing portion is composed of two spacedapart,oppositely facing, partly curled end sections 35 and 36, one of which,35, is of larger diameter than the other, is connected to main portion31 and has an intermediate weakened zone 33 extending part-waylongitudinally thereof. Said end sections 35 and 36 are connected at oneside by an intermediate section 37 that extends substantially at rightangles to main portion 31. The user, having at his disposal a sealingtool according to the present invention, inserts the seal 34 into saidtool, then introduces a shackle of strand material 39 into curled endsection 35 and operates the sealing tool to close the seal upon theshackle.

Within this invention, the sealing tool can be actuated in any suitableway, such as by compressed *air, but it is illustrated herein asdesigned for manual operation.

' The illustrated sealing tool 38 is provided with opposed die members40 and 41 forthe reception of the seal 34.

'Die member 40 is provided with a pair of supporting ledges 42 and apair or curved seats 43, theunitsof each of said pairs being separatedby a central channel '44.

*Die r'n'embr41 has a pair of coil-engaging surfaces 45 complementary tothe lower pair of curved seats 43.

The tool includes a central punch 46 carried by upper die member 41 'andlocated intermediate the upper pair of coil-engaging surfaces 45 intheplane ofchannel 44 or the lower die member. Said punch extends belowsaid coil-engaging 'surfaces 45 and has a curved-undersurface 47.

Suitable means to move one of said -die members 40 i and 41with-relation to the other are provided. In the '-s1ii face"63 with itssurface 64. Therefore, on theconpresent instance, 48 is -asupporting'memberhaving an internal guide 49. Die member 41iscarried bya slide 50 that travels in guide 49. A spring 51, anchoredin thebott-orn of guide 49, is provided, which spring tends to move slide 56in an upward directionpas viewed in Fig. 2. 52 and '53 are a pair oflevers 'pivotally connected together at 54,*one ofsaid levers, 52, beingpivotally supported at 55 on supporting member 48Qwhile lever 53 ispivotally co'nnected'at 56to slide5t).

'-It will be understood that, when leVer SSis swung in the 'dire'ctibnindicated by arrow- 57 of Fig.2, slide 50 will iriov'e in a downwarddirection.

Die member 40 is carriedbya slide 58, also mounted in guide 49, and'isnormally movedin'to its upward position by a s rings's bearing against aportion '60 of slide 50. Spring 59 is mucnweajker than spring 51, andthe said upward move- "merit of slide "58 is limited byme'ans of apin"61, eXtend ing into slot til 0f sup'porting' mem'ber 48.

The downward movement of slide'SU is'transrnittedto slide -58 by theinterposed seal 34. Supportin-gmernber 48 is providedwitn-anabutmentsurface 63'th'at stop the downward movement' of slide 58,whicl1 latterengages said tinuedd'ownward'movement of slide 50, slide 58 will standstill while slideStlcontinues such downward movem'ent, aricl will ce'aseto'support spring 59.

The 'm'anner in which the tool closes seal 34will now be described. Theoperator-retracts 'slide'58 downwardly against the tension of spring 59so as to admit 'of tlie insertion of seal 34 between die members 40 and41. In so doing, the operator will place curled end section 35, of wingportion 32, in the curved seats 43 and with upper curled end section 36beneath punch 46, body portion 31 being placed on supporting ledges 42between side gauges 65. Die member 40 is now released by the operatorand spring 59 moves slide 58 upwardly so as to hold the sealing elementbetween the die members.

Strand material 39 can now conveniently be placed in lower curled endsection 35. The operator now grasps supporting member 48 and lever 53,thereby moving them toward each other. The movement thus produced causesslide 50, carrying die member 41, to move downwardly and to transmitthis motion through the instrumentality of seal 34 to die member 40 andslide 53. This motion continues until surface 64 of slide 58 engagessurface 63 of supporting member 48 when the downward motion of slide 58ceases, while the downward motion of slide 50 continues.

The downward motion of slide 50 causes center punch 46 to begin thecoiling of wing portion 32 of the seal. In so doing, main portion 31will rise from its horizontal position until it engages the tip of punch46 (Fig. 5). It will be observed that, in thus rising, main portion 31closes the gap between curled end sections 35 and 36,

thereby trapping, or ensuring the retention of, strand material 3hWithin wing portion 32.

Further downward motion of die member 41 causes center punch 46 tocontinue the coiling operation and to engage the inner surface of lowersection 35 to tear said wing portion 32 in its weakened zone 33 and tocrimp the central part of the coil. Eventually coil-engaging surfaces 45of die member 41 act upon opposite ends of the coil to flatten the same,this being made possible by the breaking through of punch 46 intocentral channel 44.

During the foregoing movements, tapered face &6 of the die 41 pincheswing portion 32 against curved seats 43 at the place indicated by 6'7,and main portion 31 of the seal 34 relapses to its original horizontalposition.v

It is to be noted that neither center punch 46 nor the crimped portionof the coil reaches the bottom of channel 44 (Figs. 8 and 9).

The seal, as closed by the tool, is shown in Fig. 10 which illustratesthe fact that as a result of the described operation of the tool, thecurled end section 36 and a substantial part of the curled end section35 of the seal,

I as supplied to the user by the manufacturer, have been rolled andcrimped into a shackle-gripping coil 68, and

the tearing of wing portion 32, as described, has formed a gap 72 in theseal.

It will be understood from the foregoing that if it is attempted to undocoil 68 of the closed seal, it will be practically impossible to do sowithout causing a rupture of wing portion 3.2. This is so because thepresence of gap '72 leaves very little metal, at either of its ends,connecting main portion 31 with wing portion 32. Furthermore, it wil beseen that if wing portion 32 is thus ruptured, strand material 39 willstill be held firmly by coil 68, and evidence of tampering will beclearly indicated. In addition, the fragile appearance of the seal, gap'72 being clearly visible, will have a tendency to deter a would-betamperer from an attempt to open the seal.

From Fig. 10, it will be understood that strand material 39 haspreviously been threaded through an object to be sealed (not shown) andformed into a loop 73 in a well-understood manner.

It should be clear to those familiar with this art that the disclosedtool is simple, easy to operate and, in a single operation thereof, notonly closes a seal upon a shackle but deforms and tears the seal to soWeaken it that any substantial attempts to open it would cause it tobreak and thereby give evidence of tampering.

Variations in structural details of the tool obviously may be madewithout departing from the invention as set forth in the followingclaims.

I claim:

1. In a sealing tool having opposed die members for the reception of asheet material sealing element; one of said die members having a pair ofsupporting ledges and a pair of curved seats, the units of each of saidpairs being separated by a central channel, the other one of said diemembers having a pair of opposing surfaces in opposition to said pair ofcurved seats, and having a center punch located intermediate said pairof opposing surfaces in the plane of said central channel; and means tomove said die members one with relation to the other.

2. In a sealing tool having opposed die supporting members supported fortranslational sliding of one of said members in relation to the other ofsaid members and means for causing such sliding relative movement; twoopposed dies, each carried fixedly upon a different one of saiddie-supporting members, one of said dies having a supporting ledge and apair of spaced, curved seats adjoining said ledge, said pair of seatsbeing curved about a common axis of curvature, the units of said pair ofseats being separated by a central recess, the other of said dies havinga pair of spaced, opposing surfaces in opposition to and adapted tocoact with said curved seats to tighten portions of a seal therebetweenand having, also, a central punch intermediate said opposing surfacesand adapted, upon such translational sliding, to enter said centralrecess.

3. In a sealing tool, the combination according to claim 2, said centralpunch having an angular edge portion in substantial alignment with aplane coincident with portions of said seats which are adjacent to saidledge, said punch being adapted to move to a point beyond said seats,and said angular edge portion, upon such movement, being adapted toengage and tear a portion of a seal being closed by the tool to form asubstantial gap in the seal.

4. In a sealing tool, the combination according to claim 3, said otherdie having a tapered face, adapted to coact with an underlying portionof one of said curved seats adjacent to said supporting ledge to pinchand hold a portion of a seal between said curved seat portion and saidtapered face and thereby hold the seal against bodily rotation duringsuch tightening of portions of the seal.

5. In a sealing tool, the combination according to claim 2, said otherdie having a tapered face, adapted to coact with an underlying portionof one of said curved seats adjacent to said supporting ledge to pinchand hold a portion of a seal between said curved seat portion and saidtapered face and thereby hold the seal against bodily rotation duringsuch tightening of portions of the seal.

No references cited.

Mr a

Dedication 2,847,675.W2'nf7*ed M. Brooks, West Orange, NJ. SEALING TOOL.Patent dated Aug. 19, 1958. Dedication filed Feb. 9, 1972, by theassignee, E. J. Brooks Oompcmy.

Hereby dedicates to the Public the term thereof remaining after Oct. 1,1970.

[Oficz'al Gazette July 11,1972]

